johnmcgraw1972

I am a high school history teacher and the chess coach for Jasper City Schools. I began forming a chess club because there was no chess club in our school system and I had no chess club to join while I was in school. I played baseball and football, and I would have loved to play chess in the off-seasons. I am also an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. Army where I served as an Arctic Paratrooper in the 1/501st Parachute Infantry Regiment- 6th Infantry Division at Ft. Richardson, Alaska. One of my most memorable moments in the military was when I played a Russian paratrooper in chess. He spoke very little English, and I spoke very little Russian- Chess was our common language! My love of the military and history led me to create two chess variants- Old Chess Navy and Castle Keep Chess. I hope to display both at the upcoming Chess SuperNationals V in April 2013 at Nashville, Tennessee. If you have any questions about my new chess games, please e-mail me through Chess.com- Thank you!